Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde and Jay Lane started doing a run of "Primus 3D" tour dates last year, and they've extended it into another tour leg for 2013. The show promised to augment Primus’ music with 3D visuals and Surround Sound for an entire evening with no opening act. The Fox Theater in Pomona, California, played host to one such show on May 19.

Already known for his work with a multitude of bands and musicians, including Steve Vai, Talas, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big and Niacin, bass maestro Billy Sheehan recently kicked off two new projects — PSMS (Portnoy-Sheehan-MacAlpine-Sherinian) and the Winery Dogs with Mike Portnoy and Richie Kotzen.

It takes a certain acquired taste to be able to appreciate everything British musician Steven Wilson brings to his multiple projects — from Porcupine Tree to Blackfield to No-Man to IEM — but whenever he's in town, the fans show up in droves. That’s exactly what happened at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles on May 10, when he performed an entire evening with his solo band.

Wild Child, a Doors tribute band, have been around for more than 20 years, and it’s time they got some recognition for their unending dedication to the music they’ve loved and mastered. Thanks to AXS TV’s series, The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands, Wild Child got a spot on national TV on May 6, playing in front of a packed Roxy Theatre crowd.

Los Angeles-based classic metal outfit White Wizzard formed in 2007. After enduring several lineup changes, the band finally seems to have settled on solid ground. Their early albums — High Speed GTO and Over The Top — treated fans to some solid, catchy old-school metal. The next album, Flying Tigers, took the band into new musical territory. Their upcoming release, The Devil's Cut, sees them progress even further with scorching lead guitar work.

The Ocean is a German progressive metal band that began in 2000 and steadily built up a reputation on the strength of their creative experimentation on early albums like Fluxion, Aeolian and Precambrian. Subsequently, they took upon the task of a massive double concept album, released in two parts as Heliocentric and Anthropocentric in 2010.

Based out of Vancouver, Canada, Anciients play a blend of soothing acoustic rock melodies and crushing heavy metal. The band released their debut album, Heart Of Oak, April 16 via Season Of Mist Records and hit the road on the Death To All tour.

Based out of Houston, Texas, occult rock band Venomous Maximus started out in 2010 and self-released their debut album, Beg Upon The Light, on their own label, Occulture Records, late last year. The album is set to get a bigger release via Napalm Records this summer.

German thrash veterans Destruction celebrated their 30th anniversary last year with some special shows played around the world and the European release of their latest album, Spiritual Genocide, in November. The album saw its North American release in February.

Danko Jones is a Toronto-based hard rock trio comprising of vocalist/guitarist Danko Jones, bassist John Calabrese and drummer Atom Willard. The band released their sixth studio album, Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue, late last year, and are now hard at work on a North American tour with Danish rockers Volbeat.